Sonic X: The Prequel
by 888epic
Summary: Chris Thorndyke had a pretty normal life, at least for an only child growing up in a rich home. All of that changes when his parents are killed by a mysterious silver-haired man from another dimension, Sephiroth! He's not alone, either: the same fate has befallen Tea Gardner, a girl living not too far from him. Now the two have been adopted by Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was hot, even for late August. It seemed as though the warm weather made the already-busy people of Station Square even busier. Here and there were traffic jams, accidents, and parking lots being filled. Clearly this city was overcrowded.

Nelson and Lindsey Thorndyke were not used to this. Indeed, their _home_ was in this city, but they scarcely ever lived in it. Nelson was the CEO of Thorndyke Industries, and he went on business trips lasting sometimes months. Lindsey was an actress, and not surprisingly, she spent most of her time in Southern California. But today was a special day for both of them. So special in fact, they would have the luxury to spend it at their own mansion.

"Isn't it wonderful, Nelson?" said Lindsey. "I can't wait to surprise Chris when we get home!"

Nelson cautiously pulled into the park garage. "Uh, yeah… Wait, why are we surprising him again?"

"Nelson!"

"What?"

Lindsey crossed her arms. "Today is…?"

Nelson scratched his head. "Friday?" Lindsey's expression remained. "The 23rd?... 2001?"

Lindsey did a huff. "It's our son's eleventh birthday! How could you forget?"

Nelson blushed. "I knew that, I just wanted to see if you remembered."

"Right."

Nelson was at the fifth story of the garage. It was completely full. "Is there a single goddamn place to park in this place?"

Lindsey looked as well. "I can't see -"

"Found one!"

Nelson was pointing at a gap between two car near the wall. But whoever parked there had not done a good job. The car on the left was perfectly in the lines, but the one on the right was about a third over it.

"Nelson, are you _sure_ you can park there?"

"Lindsey, I've had a licence for twenty-seven years. I think I can handle this." He crept up to the space, cautiously looking left and right. Seeing how he was mere inches from the car on the right, he quickly swerved his tires to the left.

"Nelson be careful -!"

 _CRASH!_

The car felt a tremendous impact. The front end had collided with the mirror of the car on the left. Nelson swore out loud.

"Nelson! Get out of there!"

"Oh, you don't _fucking_ say?!" He shifted into reverse, but it was for the worse. The front of the car was scraping the side of the other one, making an ugly screeching noise. By the time he had pulled out, there was a long, dark-gray mark on the side of it. He shifted to park and turned off the vehicle. Then he stepped out, pulling his Nokia 3310 from his pants pocket. "I'm calling law enforcement," he said. "It's only right that we -"

There was the sound of something dropping to the ground behind them. Before he had finished dialing, he spun around to see what it was. Lindsey stepped out to see as well. It was a young man, probably in his late twenties. He was tall and very muscular, had long, silver hair with spiky bangs parted in the middle, and had a strange attire. He had a black coat that acted more or less as a cape, with silver pauldrons covering his shoulders. The top of the coat was open, leaving his chest exposed, and making the suspenders of his black overalls visible. He had tight, black boots that went above his knee, seemingly made for trenches. And on his hands were gloves, as tight and shiny-black as his boots. It was a wonder he could wear so much clothing without even appearing that he was hot in the eighty-degree weather. His mouth and bright green eyes were wide open in shock and disbelief, and he apparently had dropped his bags of groceries.

"I'm sorry, sir, is this your car?" said Nelson. "We, ah, had a little accident here."

The man continued to stare. "My… my Lexus," he stammered. "My brand-new Lexus… ruined."

"It's not so bad; it can still get a sticker," said Lindsey. "And besides, we're the richest family in the county. It will be no trouble for us to pay you to get that buffed out. In fact, we could just as easily _buy_ you a new car."

"You stupid fools. You have scratched my new car. For that, you must pay…" A longsword with an odachi blade materialized in his right hand. "...with your lives."

Before Nelson could react, the man had sliced his head clean off (the sword had astounding reach). Blood sprayed from the top of Nelson's decapitated neck. The man hopped onto the roof of Nelson's car and jabbed the blade into Lindsey's chest. It was so sharp it went through her like warm butter. Lindsey collapsed on her back in a growing pool of her own blood.

The longsword vanished and the man hopped off the vehicle. "Damn it," he said. "If anybody sees this the police will hunt me down. I have to make it look like an accident." Then he had an idea. He stuffed the two corpses into the front seats. Then he sat in Nelson's lap. He turned on the engine and backed up a few hundred feet.

"If I fuck up, I'm going to _be_ fucked up."

He went back into drive and floored the gas. Then, seconds before impact with the wall, he bailed out of the vehicle.

 _CRASH!_

That must have been one sturdy vehicle. It didn't stop when it hit the cement barrier; it broke right through and fell into the street below, getting totaled. He heard the sound of the car catching fire and people screaming in fear. "Well, glad that's over with." He put his groceries in the trunk of his car. Then he noticed the phone on the ground where his first victim had been standing. Just to be safe, he pocketed it and drove away.

The doorbell of the Thorndyke manor had been rung. The Japanese butler, Mr. Tanaka, rushed over to answer it. It was the Sergeant Albright.

"May I help you, sir?" Tanaka asked.

"I'm afraid we need you to identify two bodies we believe to be Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke," he said in his Irish accent.

"What?" Mr. Tanaka followed him behind an ambulance. There there were two stretchers with the bodies resting on them. Mr. Tanaka could not have identified the bodies if he hadn't averted his eyes. The faces were so mangled they were unrecognizable. But, nevertheless, he knew that these were, indubitably, his master and mistress. He felt sick just in the moment he saw them. He fell to a knee and tried to blink the blackness out from his eyes.

"Sir? Are these -?"

"Yes," Tanaka managed. "They are. I do not know how I will tell Mister Chuck and Master Chris."

"Should I instead? It's not the first time I've had to do something like this."

"No. Take these two away from here. I would be a disgraceful butler to not do this myself."

"Suit yourself. I'm sorry for your loss."

Tanaka walked back into the mansion and went to the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and drank it quickly.

"It is hot today, no, Señior Tanaka?" Ella said as she frosted Chris's birthday cake.

"Where is Mister Chuck?" he asked.

"He is playing catch with Chris and his friends out by the pool," Ella replied.

"Thank you, Ella."

Ella noticed the tone in his voice. "Señior Tanaka? Is something wrong?"

But Tanaka was gone. He went out the side door to where they were playing.

"Master Chuck! May I have a word with you?"

The middle-aged man turned toward him. The baseball hit him in the side of the head. "Ow! Who threw that?!"

Chris's friend Danny laughed. "Sorry, Grandpa Chuck!"

Chuck walked over to Tanaka rubbing his head. "What's up?"

"I have some unfortunate news."

"What?"

Tanaka took a deep breath. "Your son and daughter-in-law… will not be making it to Chris's party."

"Why not?"

Tanaka looked down. "They… are…"

"Yes…?"

"On business trips. Mr. Thorndyke called up and said they needed him for a conference out of state. And Mrs. Thorndyke had to do a second shot for the film."

"They're skipping out at the last minute again?" Chuck shouted. "I'll have to have a word with that son of mine! Can't he put his family before his job for once in his life?" He pulled out his cell phone and dialed his number.

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end.

"Nelson? This is your father."

"Professor? What the hell did you just call me?"

"Of course I'm the Prof - what?! You don't use those words with me! What are you doing?"

"I'm driving. I shouldn't be on the phone right now."

"No, you listen to me, Nelson. It's your son's eleventh birthday. You couldn't take a single day off for him?"

"Damn it, I'm throwing this phone in the trash. Goodbye, crazy old man."

"Nelson!" He looked at Tanaka. "He hung up on me! Can you believe it?"

Tanaka was petrified. If that was Mr. Thorndyke's voice on the phone, then whose body had he seen on the stretcher? And if that _was_ Mr. Thorndyke he had seen on the stretcher, then who was just on the phone with Chuck?

"Do not get worked up over such trivial matters, Mister Chuck. I am sure Christopher can enjoy himself without them."

Chuck sighed. "I hope you're right. But this is the third year in a row they haven't shown up. It would have been a nice surprise for him, anyway."

Mr. Tanaka went back inside and phoned the police. He told them about the phone call Chuck made.

"DNA samples have confirmed these are indeed Mr. and Mrs. Thorndyke. We'll have the location of that phone tracked down immediately," the officer said.

Tanaka looked out the window. Ella was bringing her special Mexican pizza out to the picnic table for the kids to enjoy. If only they knew, he thought.

"Oh, boy!" Chris exclaimed. "Ella's pizzas are the greatest!"

"I've never seen a pizza like this," said Frances. "What is it?"

"It's Mexican pizza," Chris replied. "It has salsa instead of sauce, Mexican cheese, and topped with tomatoes, peppers and olives."

"That sounds good!" said Chris's girlfriend Helen. "Thank you, Ella!"

"It was my pleasure! Dig in, children!"

The children ate. They played games. They had fun. And all the while they were ignorant of the danger that was afoot.

"What have you found about this place, Cloud?" asked the woman sitting in an alleyway by a dumpster.

A young mercenary with spiky blonde hair was approaching her with a newspaper. "I've found bits of information in this newspaper, Tifa. Apparently we're in a coastal city called 'Station Square'. It's technology is significantly less advanced than that of Midgar, but it's population is far greater."

"Why would Sephiroth cross dimensions for a place like this?" Tifa inquired.

"I don't know. But I can't imagine his intentions for this place are pure. We have to find him." Cloud helped his friend up on her feet.

"Crossing into other worlds is not an easy thing to do," said Tifa. "It doesn't often happen without a Dimensional Shift."

"No, that's true. The dimensional stability of this world is must be decreasing. I imagine it could merge with it's sister universe within the next three years."

The two were walking down the street now. "Do you think Sephiroth realizes this?"

"He must. Or he was just desperate to leave the Planet."

"That madman will stop at nothing to conquer the world, regardless of it's his own."

"Woah. Look over there." Tifa was pointing at the burning vehicle that had seemingly fallen out of the park garage. It was surrounded by police cars, and it was being hooked to a tow truck.

"That might be good to check out," said Cloud, as he started running toward it.

"Looks like it fell out," said Tifa.

Cloud walked up to a policeman. "Officer, whose car is that?"

The policeman sighed. "Oh, that wealthy Mr. Thorndyke from the suburbs. A great man, he was. I feel bad for the man's family."

"He's dead?"

"Yes, he and his wife, Lindsey. Died upon impact. We believe they lost their brakes while trying to park."

"Mind if I take a look?"

"That's a question for the tow truck driver. Otherwise, be my guest."

Cloud did so. The driver lifted the front end of the vehicle with the hook, and Cloud looked underneath. Namely, behind the wheels and axles. "Tifa, could you reach inside and press down on the brake pedal?"

Tifa put her hand through the crumpled door hole. "Yeah I - ouch! There's broken glass all over the floor!"

"Be careful. Just pump the brake for me, will you?"

Tifa started to press on the pedal. Cloud kept looking. "Are you pressing it?"

"Yeah, I'm… whoops, that's the gas pedal. _This_ is the brake."

Cloud tried to spin the wheels, but he couldn't. "Now let off the brake."

Tifa obeyed, but the wheels still would not budge. "They aren't moving," said Cloud.

"Why would they? The brakes aren't working."

"No, Tifa, don't you get it? Typically you would shift into neutral when you lose your brakes so you can work with gravity before using the e-brake. But if the wheels aren't moving, they must be in either park or drive. If this Thorndyke guy used the e-brake in time, the car couldn't have crashed through that wall. So obviously, this car must be in drive."

"But if that's true, then that would mean-"

"Yes. This was done deliberately." Cloud called over the officer and explained the matter to him.

"A suicide wouldn't be unlikely," the officer said. "They must have been very stressed. Did you know rich people are just as likely to be depressed as poor people?"

"But who kills themself by driving their car over the edge of a building?"

The officer rubbed his chin. "It's queer, a bit. We're towing the vehicle away to have investigators look over it."

Cloud turned to Tifa. "Let's let the police take care of this. Anyway, it's imperative that we find Sephiroth as soon as possible. Just imagine what horrible, inhuman, sick, twisted, godless, evil plans that criminal mastermind could be concocting at this very second."

The man with the silver hair had returned to his hotel room with all his groceries. But now he had a problem: He had traded the last of those green paper slips he found on the food. How was he supposed to pay the hotel bill when it came?

"Why didn't I just take their wallets?" he groaned. He had to figure out how to get more of those green paper slips without wasting too much time. Putting the bread and vegetables in the mini fridge, he set back out to loot people's homes.

After driving a few blocks in the suburbs, he found a home which seemed to belong to someone of greater status. Surely, if they had such a nice-looking home, they must have mounds of green slips, locked away in a chest or a safe of some kind. Parking his car several hundred feet away to avoid looking suspicious, he devised a way to sneak inside: Using his superior intelligence and parkour skills, he would climb onto the roof and break in through the skylights. Then he could find wherever they kept the money and take it back to the hotel.

He jumped up in the air and sprung off the side of the house next door with his feet. He landed on the clothesline between the houses and bounced off it, landing square on the roof. Then, on his hands and knees, he crept over to the skylights. Directly beneath was a girl, about sixteen years old, with shoulder-length brown hair, reading a textbook on her bed. "Well, that's not an option."

He went over to the edge of the roof and looked underneath. There was a window by what looked like her parents' bedroom. _Perfect_ , he thought. _I just have to be as quiet as possible_.

He lowered himself so his feet were on the window sill. The window was already open (probably because it was so hot) but the curtains were drawn. Expecting something to rest his hands on in front of him, he tumbled through the window like an idiot.

While on the floor he looked up and saw what he assumed were the girl's parents, making out on the bed. "I believe I heard a noise, dearest," said the mother, turning her head. When she saw the man, she screamed.

"Well, shit," he said to himself.

"Who the hell are you?!" the father shouted.

"Santa's elf," the silver-haired man replied, grinning. "I can see you've been _naughty_ this year."

"It's a stalker," cried the mother. "Honey, call the police!"

"Not so fast." The man produced the sword again and threw it at the wireless telephone standing on the dresser. It took the phone right off the holder and stuck it into the wall. The father gasped.

"How do you like the Masamune?" the man said. "It's incredibly durable and incredibly sharp, cuts diamonds in half like an apple. And the best part? I'm the only one who can use it effectively."

"Wh-who are you?" the grown man said, shaking and cuddling his wife like a teddy bear.

"I go by many names," he replied, yanking the Masamune from the wall. "Some call me the Silver Soldier. Others call me the One-Winged Angel. Some, very frankly, call me the Man in the Black Cape. You, however, may refer to me by the name 'Sephiroth'."

"What do you want from us?"

"I normally wouldn't act so rashly for something petty like this. But circumstances have forced me to act drastically. Show me where you keep the 'Federal Reserve Notes' in this house, and your precious daughter's life might be spared."

"We don't keep money in the house," the father replied. "It's all in the bank."

Sephiroth's grin disappeared. "The _what?_ "

"Twelfth National Bank of Station Square," the woman replied. "That's where we keep our money."

"Where can I find this 'bank' you speak of?"

"It's on Emerald Coast Avenue," she replied. "In the outskirts of the city. You can't miss it."

"Good. Now please accept this token of my gratitude for your being so kind enough to assist me."

The girl ran into the bedroom. "Mom? Dad? I heard a scream. What's going on in -?"

Sephiroth decapitated both of her parents in a single slash. The Masamune glowed blue as he swung it. Then he turned to the girl. She was too scared to do anything but look at his face. Sephiroth walked up to her and caressed her cheek with his cold-blooded gloved hand, tilting her head up slightly at him. At the same time he put the edge of the sword on her throat with his other hand.

"I suppose the wise thing to do would be to slice your throat now," he said calmly. "But I'm a man of my word. I promised your parents your life for their assistance." His sword vanished again and he walked out of the bedroom. The girl buried her face in the blood-stained bed and wept.

Cloud and Tifa were troubled when they heard the sound of a girl crying coming from a nearby open window. So, as any hero would, the two of them ran through the front door and up the stairs to where they heard the crying. They found the door where it was coming from to be wide open. They were horrified at what they saw: A queen-sized bed with two decapitated corpses on it - a man's and a woman's - and a teenage girl at the foot of the bed, sobbing.

Cloud put his hand on the girl's upper back. "Hey," he peeped. The moment he touched her, the girl screamed and curled up on the floor, face in her hands, looking up at him through her fingers.

"No!" she cried. "Don't hurt me! I didn't do anything!"

Cloud knelt down beside the whimpering girl and started stroking her hair. "Don't worry. I'd never hurt you. I'm one of the good guys."

She uncovered her face. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. She could barely get words out. "Th-they're gone," she choked.

"Are those your parents, sitting on this bed?" The girl only responded with a sniff. Cloud held his arms out. "Come here, sweetie." The girl embraced him and continued crying on his shoulder. After a minute, Cloud stood her up and she rubbed her eyes.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Cloud Strife. I'm a mercenary. And this is Tifa Lockhart, and old friend of mine."

Tifa bent over and hugged the girl. "\What's your name?"

"Tea. Tea Gardener."

"That's a nice name. Tea, I'm so sorry this happened to you. Trust me, I know what it's like to lose a parent. My mother died when I was eight."

"I never even knew my father," Cloud said. "He disappeared when I was just a baby."

"Do you know what happened to your parents?" Tifa asked.

Tea tried to respond, but she could hardly get a syllable out before another wave of tears consumed her.

"Tea, I know this must be difficult for you, but we need to know! There's a madman from our world on the loose, and -"

"Y-your world?" Tea said, her crying easing up. "What do you mean?"

"Cloud and I are not from around here," Tifa explained. "The lead scientists at the Shinra Electric Power Company created an interdimensional portal using the leftover Materia they had collected before they stopped using the Lifestream as their main power source. The purpose of this portal was to send people to other worlds to find new sources of energy to bring to Gaia. But their base was attacked by a villain known as Sephiroth, and he used the portal to invade this planet. We don't know what his plans are for this world, but they can't be good."

"I don't even know how he's alive," said Cloud, scratching his head. "I thought I had destroyed him in our last battle. I watched him disintegrate into the Lifestream."

"Well," Tifa said, "that wouldn't have been the first time, anyway. Didn't you toss him into Mako energy back on Mt. Nibel, too?"

Tea piped in. "I have no idea what you two are talking about, but I can tell you what happened to my parents. A big scary man broke into our house and cut their heads off with his sword. I saw it with my own eyes."

"A man?" Cloud repeated. "With a sword? What did he look like?"

Tea thought a minute. "He was tall. He had long silver hair and a black cape."

"That sure sounds like Sephiroth," he said to Tifa.

"Did he say where he was going?" Tifa asked.

"Well, I heard them say something about the bank -"

"To the bank!" Cloud shouted. Just as he and Tifa were leaving the room, Cloud looked back at the girl. She was sitting in the 'W' position, her head drooping. Cloud whispered to Tifa: "Tifa, this kid's all alone with no parents. I feel kind of bad for her. What should we do?"

"If only if she had family she could stay with," Tifa said.

"That's it!" Cloud whispered, snapping his fingers. " _We'll_ be her family!"

"Us? We just met her. And what do you know about taking care of a kid?"

"It'll be easy! I mean, she's what, like, fifteen, sixteen at most? She can practically take care of herself." He walked over to Tea. "Say, Tea, how would you like to live with us?"

Tea looked at him. "With you? You mean like, as a family?"

"Yeah! Tifa and I can be your mom and your dad."

"You don't look more than five years older than me, Cloud."

"Well, I was a very mature five. So I'm a very, _very_ mature 21."

Tea smiled through her tears. "Well, I have nowhere else to go. Thanks… Dad."

Cloud grinned. "How would you like to come run some errands with your 'mother' and I? Maybe… go to the bank?"

Tea nodded. "But if the silver-haired man is there -"

"- he'll be no match for my trusty Buster Sword!" Cloud said, producing a broadsword. Tea was amazed.

"It's even larger than the sword _he_ had!" she ejaculated.

"Sure is. I've beaten Sephiroth before with this very sword, and I'll beat him again, no problem."


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright!" Sephiroth shouted, opening the pillowcase he stole from the hotel. "I know that here, at the Twelfth National Bank of Station Square, you hold great riches! Now I command you to hand over the money!"

"Sir, this is Burger King," the man behind the counter said. "The bank is across the street."

Sephiroth blushed. "Oh. Apologies. Enjoy the rest of your day." He could feel the eyes of the customers on him as he walked out the door.

He saw a gray building across the street with a greenish sign above the door: TWELFTH NATIONAL BANK OF STATION SQUARE, INC. That must be it. But then he realized something: he couldn't just go in there as he was and demand the money. His face would be seen, and while he had already managed to murder four people with no witnesses, there was no way he could kill enough people to ensure the authorities could not chase him down. Cover his face with the pillowcase? But what would he put the money in? He saw a white plastic bag fluttering down the sidewalk. Perfect. He scooped it off the sidewalk and put it over his head. Then he ran into the bank and drew his Masamune.

"This is a robbery!" he yelled. "Everybody get on the ground!"

The people waiting in line at the counter screamed and laid on the floor. He walked up to the counter and put the end of his sword at the teller's throat.

"Put the money in the bag!" he yelled. The teller took the bag and pressed the silent alarm button. Then she started filling the bag with wads of cash. When the bag couldn't hold any more money, she handed it back. "I'm sorry, that's all I could fit in there," she said.

"Hahaha!" Sephiroth laughed. "With this much money, I'll live like a king! Nothing can stop me now! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha…" His laughter started to fade. "Hahaha… ha… ha… heh…" Why was he getting so tired? He knelt down on the floor and steadied himself with his hand, breathing heavily. "What… why… can't… I… breathe…?" He tried to get up, but his muscles were getting weak. Almost impulsively, he tore the plastic bag off his head and inhaled deeply. Everybody could see his face.

 _Damnit!_ He thought. _Stupid bags should have a warning or something on them saying not to put them over your head._ _The police will be onto me now. I have to get out of here!_ He scrambled to the door and opened it, only to be greeted by his arch nemeses: Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockhart. And for some reason, the girl he had threatened earlier as well.

"You!" he shouted. "How did you follow me here?"

"You monster!" Cloud yelled, brandishing his Buster Sword. "You'll pay for the lives you've taken!"

Sephiroth was still a little tired, but he managed to produce his Masamune. "And you'll pay for interfering with my plans once again!" He slashed at Cloud from the side, but Cloud blocked it with his sword. While the two struggled against each other's might, Cloud shouted. "Now, Tifa!"

Tifa ran to Sephiroth and socked him in the gut with all her might. Sephiroth tumbled across the room, spilling the bills he was carrying everywhere. He stopped when he hit the bottom of the counter.

"Wow!" Tea cheered. "Nice hit, Tifa!"

"Just stay where you are, Tea, we'll take care of him!"

Sephiroth started to try picking up the bills, but Cloud was approaching him. "You're finished, Sephiroth," Cloud growled. "I'm putting an end to you right here, right now."

"That won't be necessary!"

Everybody in the bank looked toward the entrance and saw the police with their handguns pointed at Sephiroth. "Get down on the floor," Sergeant Albright said, "and place yer hands over yer head."

Sephiroth looked around. He was face to face with his two worst enemies, and now he was surrounded by police officers. There was no escape left for him.

"It's over, Sephiroth," said Cloud. "You've lost. You have nowhere left to run. It's time to give up."

Sephiroth clenched his teeth so hard he was afraid they might crack. He hated to lose. In fact, there was nothing he hated more than it. His eyes darted to the round vault door to his right. It was still open, but it was a dead end. Unless…

"Sir, this is your last chance," Albright said. "If ye were black ye'd be dead already. Get down on the floor or we'll -"

Sephiroth dashed into the vault and slammed the door shut. He heard the rattling of bullets against the outside of the door. But there was only one way into the vault, and that was by putting in the right numbers into the combination lock. They would have to ask the teller to do it. He produced his Masamune again. He jabbed the end of it into his left hand, causing blood to ooze out. Then he dipped his right index finger into the blood and started to draw a large circle on the floor. He severed himself pretty good, so there was no shortage of blood to work with. He heard people outside walking toward the door. He drew a circle within the circle, then quickly started drawing a five-pointed star in the smaller one. At each of the five points, he drew a character, spelling out the Hebrew word LEVIATHAN. This was the ritual his master instructed him to perform if he needed to come in contact with him. Sephiroth knelt by the pentagram and said the Lord's Prayer in reverse: "NEMA! REVEH ROF, EEROLG ETH DNA, REWOP ETH DNA, MODGNIK ETH SIH NITHE ROF LIVEE MORF SU REVILLED TUB NOISHAYTPMET OOTNI TON SUH DEEL SUS TSHAIGA SAPSERT TAHT YETH VIGRAWF EU ZA SESAPSERT RUA SUH VIGRAWF DERB ILAID RUA YED SITH SUH VIG NEVEH NI SI ZA THRE NI NUD EEB LIW EYTH MUCK MODNGIK EYTH MAIN EYTH EEB DWOHLAH NEVAH NI TRA CHIOO. RETHARF RUA!"

The pentagram was engulfed in flames. Sephiroth's master appeared within it. He was a man with bluish-violet skin, spiky black hair, and a red scar on his chest. The sclera of his eyes was red and the irises were black. He was wearing a gray suit with a red tie, with a long, black trench coat over it.

"Sephiroth," the purple man said, "have you completed your mission?"

"My lord," Sephiroth said, groveling, "there's no time to explain. I'm locked in this vault and I -" He heard the sound of the tumblers in the lock. "- I just need you to get me out of here!"

"Very well," the man replied. He snapped his fingers, and the vault filled up with smoke.

Just then the door opened. The police coughed and gagged in the sulfury gas. "Where did he go?" the lead officer sputtered. He shined a flashlight to try to see through the smoke. But the suspect was gone.

"Sergeant, look on the floor!" another officer yelled.

The beam of light hit the floor, revealing the pentagram.

"He drew that symbol on the floor. Why, Sarge?"

The sergeant scratched his head. "No clue. But at least we have evidence to bring back to the station. Let's get a detective to scrape up these blood samples." He went up to Cloud and Tifa with a pen and paper. "What's yer name, son?"

"Cloud Strife," the mercenary replied. "And this is Tifa Lockhart."

"And what did you see the suspect do?"

"He tried to escape with a bag full of those green papers. But we stopped him."

Tea piped in. "Excuse me, officer, but I witnessed that same man break into my house earlier today. He… he murdered my parents."

"And we believe he may have played a role in the death of the Thorndykes as well," Tifa added.

"Our men are spread thin today," said Albright. "But Station Square ain't known fer havin' a high violent crime rate. Regardless, bringing this man to justice is a matter of if we can find him."

"I just can't imagine where he could have disappeared to," Tifa said to Cloud.

Sephiroth and his master appeared in a bleak-looking place. The sky was dark red, with an enormous moon illuminating the rocky, lifeless ground. There was a sea nearby, obscuring everything beyond it with a thick fog. Near the shore was a fence of bamboo and rope, as well as the head and hands of a giant Buddhist statue.

"Talk about a close call," Sephiroth chuckled.

The purple man roared like a beast. His body grew, ripping out of his suit and trench coat. He grew devil horns, a third eye on his forehead, and two devil wings with three eyes on each of them. His now-bare chest had an open scar in it with another eye. And he also had grown a speared tail with another eye at the end. From his waist down to his clawed toes, he had grown a coarse coat of fur. The demonic-looking creature pointed at Sephiroth with a clawed finger and spoke in a monsterous tone:

"You have failed your mission, haven't you?"

Sephiroth crouched on the ground. "No! I just -"

"Then give it to me!"

"I'm sorry, master, I don't have it. I just haven't had a chance -!"

The beast held up his hand. "I gave you orders. I expect you to follow them. Or have you forgotten why you were given the privilege to work for me in the first place?"

"Of course not, master. How could I?"

"Remind me."

"Alright then. Flashback!"

Cloud was slashing his Fusion Sword left and right. Sephiroth had never seen him so enraged in battle before. But he was still no match for him. Every blow Cloud dealt with his sword was halted by Sephiroth's Masamune. But playing defensive was getting a bit old. He swung upward with his sword and flipped Cloud backward. He expected Cloud would land flat on his back, but to his surprise, he landed on his feet. Cloud ran back toward Sephiroth at full speed and jumped up, about to swing his sword down. That fool! Every swordsman ought to knows enough to keep his sword at torso level at all times. But Cloud's anger had obscured his judgement. This was too easy.

Sephiroth jabbed his Masamune right through Cloud's chest, squirting his blood everywhere. Sephiroth remembered what happened at the Mako reactor and grinned. "Is this the pain you felt before, Cloud?" Cloud couldn't respond. He was choking on his own blood. "Let me remind you; this time you won't forget." A black wing sprouted from his back. He flung Cloud into the gray sky above the ruined city, and flew after him and used his Octoslash to gash his body more. Cloud desperately blocked his blows with his sword, but he was too weak from blood loss. Sephiroth clearly had the upper hand. And the upper wing, too: He was flying, Cloud was just falling with style.

Sephiroth flew above Cloud and slashed downward, hurling his bleeding body onto the top of a building. The pathetic thing was too weak to even lift his weapon. Sephiroth descended in the sky until he was just a few yards above him. "Tell me what you cherish most," taunted Sephiroth, "and give me the pleasure of taking it away." He flew downward at full speed, sword at his side, ready to slice Cloud's head clean off. But, in a completely unexpected turn of events, Cloud picked up his sword and flew into the sky, blocking Sephiroth's blow. How resilient was this guy? He must have hit him a dozen times already. Why hasn't he bled to death already?

"I pity you," Cloud shouted. "You just don't get it. There's not a thing I _don't_ cherish!"

Sephiroth chuckled. "You clearly don't cherish your life. If you did, you'd have begged for forgiveness while you had the chance." The two met in midair, swords against one another. Sephiroth pushed with all his might. He could over power Cloud easily. But Cloud's sword had vanished. No, it hadn't vanished, but split into five smaller swords. Sephiroth looked up. "What the -?"

The fusion swords turned blue and levitated around Sephiroth and pointed at him. Cloud teleported to each of the swords and started slashing at Sephiroth, far too fast for him to avoid. Cloud gave on final blow downward, and landed on the top of the building. "Now stay where you belong," he shouted, looking up at Sephiroth. "In my memory."

Sephiroth shot him a spiteful look. "I will… never be a memory." With these last words, Sephiroth wrapped his wing around his body as it faded into nothingness.

It was over. He had lost. And in just a moment it would all go black. His consciousness would cease permanently, and he would never be seen again.

But this did not happen. Instead, he fell onto the roof of the building Cloud was standing on. Or _had_ been standing on. Cloud seemed to have disappeared. In fact, everything had disappeared, except the cold metal platform he was now laying on. He looked up at the sky. It was no longer gray and cloudy. It was perfectly clear; in fact, he could see stars. Not just stars, but planets and colorful nebulas, and the Great Rift illuminating it all. Was this a near-death hallucination? He crawled to the edge of the building and looked over the edge, and was nearly blinded by a flash of bright orange light. In place of the city was a fiery, bottomless portal, with a sulfury smoke rising out of it. Although the city was gone, the roof of this building had somehow remained intact, and suspended in the air above the portal.

"Sephiroth of Nibelheim, your time has come."

Sephiroth looked behind him. There was a tall figure behind him, about six and a half feet tall, wearing a black hooded robe. He had a skull for a face and carried a scythe. And around his waist was a rope belt, with a chain hanging on the left of it, and a black leather notebook connected to the chain. It was a frightening sight even for Sephiroth.

"My… my time?" Sephiroth whimpered.

"The time has come for you to die," it said in a raspy voice. "Now I will look in my Death Note to see your fate." He removed the black notebook from his belt and started flipping through the pages. "Now then… Sean, Sebastian, ah, here it is, Sephiroth of Nibelheim. Oh my… you're a mean one, Mr. Sephiroth."

Sephiroth gulped. "Wh-what's going to happen to me?"

The figure laughed. "Sephiroth of Nibelheim, your fate is decided: You will forever burn in Hell for your evil deeds." He pointed his scythe at the man. "Now… into the eternal pit of fire you go."

Sephiroth collapsed at the figure's feet. "No!" he cried. "I don't want to die! And I _definitely_ don't want to go to Hell! Please, let me live!"

"You have fooled yourself," the creature replied. "You thought you could become a god and live forever. But you were wrong, because death is a reality for all humans. Just read it here in my Death Note -" He showed Sephiroth a page with an ominous rule written on it:

ALL HUMANS WILL, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, EVENTUALLY DIE.

Sephiroth was sobbing now. He grabbed the creature's robe and heaved his upper torso up, with his legs still on the platform. "Please, give me another chance!" he wailed. "I'm begging you! I'll do anything!"

The creature turned his expressionless skull face down to him.

" _Please!"_

The creature put the notebook away. "Well, there might be one way you may escape death," he said. "But be warned -"

"Anything, just say the word!" he interrupted.

"Alright. The only way to escape damnation is by making a deal with the Devil," he replied.

"Yes, that!" Sephiroth shouted. "I want to do that!"

If he had eyes, the creature would have rolled them. "Very well." He stood at the edge of the platform and shouted:

"Devil Kazuya, you cursed soul!

Arise, arise, from your ghastly hole!"

The platform started to shake. Then a great demon shot out of the whirlpool of flames below them. "Who dares summon Devil Kazuya?" he roared.

"It is I, Sephiroth of Nibelheim," Sephiroth replied bravely.

The demon looked down at him. A sinister grin stretched across his face. His teeth appeared human, except four his four long, sharp eye teeth. "Sephiroth… I have watched your dastardly works from the bowels of Hell. I am impressed. I could really use a guy like you."

Sephiroth nodded. "Your wish is my command, Devil. Say the word, and I will do it."

The Devil looked up and held up his hand. "As you know, the Lifestream is the spiritual energy that gives life to the entire Planet. But did you know that there are other planets with their _own_ Lifestream, just like Gaia?"

"Well, I always assumed that was the case," said Sephiroth. "My mother was an alien from another planet. If life exists on other planets, then they must have a Lifestream of their own."

"It is true. And do you know what the source of every planet's Lifestream is?"

"No. What?"

The Devil held his hand out before Sephiroth. A 3D image appeared in it. It was an elliptical-shaped orb, transparent like pink-stained glass, and it contained what looked like a spiral galaxy inside; a whirlpool of pure energy. "The Planet Egg," replied the Devil. "This is the source of all the life on the Planet."

"Extraordinary," Sephiroth said, amazed. Even he did not know that.

"Here is my task for you. You must go to a certain planet and locate its Planet Egg. When you have found it, you must summon me once more, and give the Egg to me. And with its unlimited power, I will be able to control everything, and rule the universe!" He pointed at Sephiroth. "And you… I will give you my devil blood, making you an immortal god!"

"Excellent! Now, ah, where do I find the Planet Egg and how do I summon you?"

"You will invade a Gaia-like planet known to its inhabitants as 'Earth'," replied the Devil. "It's Planet Egg is buried it its crust in a place called 'Paria'. When you find it, you must follow these instructions: Either find a small animal, like a bird or a cat, and kill it, or, if desperate, cut yourself open. Use the blood to paint a circle in the earth, and a circle within that circle. Draw a pentacle within the lesser circle, and at each point, place the following characters -" He drew them in the metal platform with his claw. "Recite Matthew chapter 6 verses 9-13 in reverse; this will reverse its meaning, causing myself to be summoned. I will only appear to you in my human form on Earth, in which case you shall refer to me as 'Kazuya', and not 'Devil'. You will give me the Planet Egg, and I will grant you everlasting life. Understand?"

Sephiroth was scribbling everything down with a pen and notepad. "Uh-huh. How do I get to this 'Urf' you speak of?"

"A team of researchers on your world are building a Gate. If you can infiltrate the Shinra Electric Power Company when they complete it, I will use my black magic to transport you to Earth. I'd go myself, but my powers are limited in this place. In Hell, I am a god, but on earth, I am a mere human. My human form is unable to find and unearth the stone I seek, and my demon form is able, but not free to do so. You, however, are no mere human; I have seen your powers demonstrated. And that is why I have faith in you. So then, do we have a deal?" He held out his hand.

Sephiroth grabbed his giant stony finger. "Deal." With that word, Sephiroth exploded, and vanished into thin air.

"And then I was back in the ruins of Midgar (with most of my power drained), and I went into hiding until I had gained the strength and resources to infiltrate the SEPC, which then teleported me to that wacky city," said Sephiroth. "See, I haven't forgotten!"

"Sephiroth," said Devil Kazuya, "I would not have offered you the gift of eternal life if I didn't think you were fully capable of retrieving the Planet Egg on your own. Your powers - albeit in a weakened state - are remarkable; they exceed even my own abilities in my human form. But you nearly failed your mission already. How can I trust you to find the most powerful object on the planet when you were nearly killed in some petty bank robbery?"

Sephiroth kneeled before the Devil. "My humblest apologies, your evilness. It won't happen again."

"For your sake, I hope not. Here -" Devil Kazuya dropped a bag in front of Sephiroth. "Take this and go on."

Sephiroth looked inside the bag. Could it be - it was! It was full of stacks of cash! "Devil, where did you get all this?"

"I grabbed that bag you had right before teleporting you here," he replied. "It should be enough to get you by for a while. Just don't be too loose, alright?"

Sephiroth was drooling over all the money. The Devil frowned. "Sephiroth, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I agree with that. Just like, teleport me back or whatever, okay?" He hadn't even looked up. The Devil rolled his eyes. Then, with a snap of his fingers, Sephiroth vanished.


End file.
